The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven-Chapter 89: Rhovan’s Suggestion

Draven. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

I was halfway down the stairs when Rhovan stirred in the back of my mind, his tone uncharacteristically alert.

"She’s in danger."

I paused on the steps. "Who?"

"Our mate. Meredith. She’s calling for help."

I frowned. "And how the hell do you know that?"

Rhovan gave a low growl. "I can feel it. She’s panicking. Her heart rate just spiked and it’s not from fear of a person—it’s drowning panic. GO!"

A muscle in my jaw ticked. Drowning? Meredith? That stubborn woman? "What could she possibly be doing to need saving—Wanda again?"

Still, something in Rhovan’s tone had me moving faster.

I caught sight of one of Meredith’s maidservants, Azul. She was exiting the kitchen and entering the hallway with a plate of burger. She looked up, startled by my pace.

"Where is your mistress?" I asked without breaking stride.

"She’s at the pool, Alpha," Azul replied instantly, "with your daughter."

With Xamira?

That didn’t make sense. If anyone was in danger, it should be my seven-year-old daughter, not Meredith. Unless... Rhovan wasn’t wrong.

I didn’t wait to ask more. My pace turned into a run.

I burst through the door leading to the pool area just in time to see someone thrashing in the water—arms flailing, legs kicking just under the surface. Xamira stood by the edge of the pool, watching.

My blood ran cold.

"Draven! Save her! She’s losing air!" Rhovan howled.

Without thinking, I dove into the water.

Her body went limp just as I reached her. The fear hit me then—like a blade under my ribs. I hooked my arm around her waist and dragged her up to the surface.

I hauled her out and laid her gently on the tiles beside the pool. Her eyes were closed. Water clung to her lashes. She wasn’t breathing.

The second her head hit the ground, Azul appeared at the edge of the pool.

"My lady!" she screamed, the tray of food she was carrying crashing to the ground. She fell to her knees beside me, panicked tears already sliding down her cheeks.

I tapped Meredith’s cheek. "Meredith. Hey—come on."

There was no response.

I tilted her head and began chest compressions. Still nothing.

"How on earth does a wolf not know how to swim?" I muttered, frustration clawing at my throat.

I leaned down and covered her mouth with mine, blowing air into her lungs, then pushed on her chest again. She remained still.

Again. This time, I was more desperate. I did mouth-to-mouth, then compressions.

And then, she gasped. Coughed. Turned to the side and vomited water from her lungs.

I exhaled and sat back, the tension slowly bleeding out of my chest.

Azul was sobbing now. "My lady... are you okay?"

Meredith reached out with trembling hands and grabbed the front of my shirt. The top buttons popped off as she pulled, needing something to cling to.

Her whole body was shaking, and I realized she was cold. Completely drenched and shivering.

I lifted her carefully into my arms, and she didn’t resist—only leaned into me, her cheek pressing to my soaked chest. Her breath was shallow. Her eyes fluttered shut.

Just as I turned to leave, I saw Wanda walk into the pool area. She stopped short, her gaze darting from Meredith in my arms to my face.

"What happened?" she asked sharply.

I didn’t slow my steps. "That’s what I would like to find out."

Azul scrambled behind me, muttering apologies to Meredith and to me. "I shouldn’t have gone to get food—I shouldn’t have left—"

I said nothing. My focus was only on the woman in my arms—how cold she was, how tightly she clung to me.

We reached her chambers. Azul threw the door open, and the other maids immediately swarmed forward. Panic swept across their faces as they saw her condition.

"What happened to our lady?" Deidra asked, eyes wide.

Azul answered, voice trembling. "I went to get snacks... I left her with the child. When I came back—Alpha was pulling her out of the water. I think... I think our lady doesn’t know how to swim."

Kira gasped softly. The other one covered her mouth.

I moved to the bed and laid Meredith down, but her hands refused to let go of my shirt. She looked small in that moment. Vulnerable.

I sighed, then turned. "Get me more duvets."

One of them ran to comply.

The rest of the girls shut the windows, trying to make the room warm. I pulled the blankets over Meredith and tucked her in tightly.

A few minutes passed. Then Azul returned and said, "Alpha, the bath is ready."

I turned my head slightly, eyeing the five women still standing around the room. I considered ordering one of them to carry Meredith.

"Don’t you dare," Rhovan said, "She is our mate. Lift her yourself."

I clenched my jaw.

In the end, I unwrapped her from the duvets and lifted her into my arms again, not because of Rhovan’s command. But because of time.

Azul and Kira walked ahead of me as I carried Meredith to the bathing area. She remained still in my arms, only faintly conscious.

I set her down gently on the stool near the tub.

"Take over from here," I ordered.

Kira and Azul nodded immediately, stepping forward.

"You’re not going to help her undress?" Rhovan asked with an almost mocking tone.

"Shut up," I muttered under my breath.

"You don’t want to help her bath and feel all the softness of her body?"

"You must be out of your mind, you idiot. You deserve to be mateless." I slammed the bathroom door shut behind me.

"Our mate will be needing us soon. It’s the full moon in three days."

"And?"

"I felt her body heat when you lifted her. Without a wolf, her pheromones will go wild in three days. And you know what that means. And I can’t help her this time around. Not like the other time."

The hallway was quiet, but my mind wasn’t.

Rhovan’s words stirred memories—of the Lunar Ball... of the way her scent had hit me the moment I walked in. That heady, irresistible pull.

I stopped mid-step. That was her heat. That was what I had walked into. And it had vanished so quickly... now I knew why.

"You suppressed it back then," I muttered. "How did you do that?"

"Because it was our first bond," Rhovan said. "And that was enough to prove she was our mate."

"And you can’t do that anymore?"

"No. This time, it will consume her. And everyone else in this house will smell it."

I stared down the hallway, feeling something dangerous tighten in my chest.

"Then what do we do?"

"Mate with her," Rhovan said quietly. "Mark her.

A scoff escaped my lips. "Are you asking me to bed her?"

And the minute I threw that question, I saw a picture of Meredith and I, having under the covers.

I shuddered.

W-why would I want to be with that woman?

"Or you can watch the others lose their minds trying to find the source of the scent that doesn’t belong to anyone."

I didn’t answer Rhovan, but his words had me reliving the memory of Meredith swinging Dennis’s arm.

I became disgusted with myself even think of my— Rhovan’s mate being with my brother.